Event-by-event breakdown of the high school competitions at the Drake Relays 2024
The 114th edition of the Drake Relays is almost here and the competition is as elite as it has ever been.
From Thursday through Saturday, Iowa's best high school track and field athletes will gather in Des Moines for a midseason best-on-best event, giving us a de facto preview of the state track meet to come later this spring. Here, we'll break down each event and the names to watch before the starting gun is fired on Thursday.
All stats are from gobound.com
100-meter dash
Girls: Panorama's Jaidyn Sellers is the leader in the state with a 12.11-second time, but MOC-Floyd Valley's Tierney Huss (12.18), Cedar Rapids Prairie's Asia Russell (12.24) and Sioux City East's Elliana Harris (12.24) are all within striking distance.
Boys: Ankeny's Tyler Sickerson (10.42) and Logan Fairchild (10.65) will look to sweep, but Western Dubuque's Brock Carpenter (10.63) and Iowa City West's Izaiah Loveless (10.65) are going to be ones to watch in a tight race.
400-meter dash
Girls: This will be a tight one, with the state's top five 400 runners all within four-tenths of a second of one another. Clear Lake's Reese Brownlee is the leader with a 56.60-second time, closely followed by Waukee's Anjelena Carder (56.71) and Nashua-Plainfield's Kadence Huck (56.79).
Boys: Carlisle's Braedin Zondervan is the only boys 400-runner to get under 48 seconds, holding a state-leading 47.75 time this season.
800-meter run
Girls: Pleasant Valley's Grace Boleyn (2:12.01) and Ani Wedemeyer (2:13.80) will look to sweep here as the fastest and third-fastest 800-meter runners in the state, but Dubuque Hempstead's Keelee Leitzen (2:12.91) will look to be a thorn in their side.
Boys: This is anyone's race, with South Tama's Tommy Tyynismaa (1:54.12) leading the way, but Mount Ayr's Ryce Reynolds (1:54.30), Iowa City West's Moustafa Tiea (1:54.34), Dowling Catholic's Owen Wolfe (1:54.35), Waukee's Jonas VanDis (1:54.68) and Johnston's Brayden Picken (1:54.91) all just behind him.
1500/1600-meter run
Girls: West Des Moines Valley's Addison Dorenkamp is the state's most accomplished distance runner, with a 4:34 1500-meter time this year and five seconds faster than the next competitor.
Boys: In the mile, Norwalk's Tony Anania is the state leader with a 4:14.10 time, with several others two seconds behind him with 4:16 times.
3000/3200-meter run
Girls: Dorenkamp will look to sweep the distance races with a 9:37.41 3000-meter time, 11 seconds faster than the next runner.
Boys: Anania will be looking for the sweep as the state leader in the two-mile race with a 9:09.62 time. Ankeny's Ethan Zuber, also a contender in the mile, should challenge him with a season-best time of 9:10.73.
100/110-meter hurdles
Girls: This event is dominated by West Des Moines talent, with Valley's Emma Havighurst leading the field with a 14.52-second time and followed by Dowling Catholic's Franny Brooks (14.80) and Annie Smith (14.93).
Boys: Iowa-Falls Alden's Jaden Damiano is the lone runner to get under 14 seconds this season in the 110-meter hurdles with a 13.96-second time.
400-meter hurdles
Girls: Clear Lake's Reese Brownlee is set for a big weekend, currently three seconds faster than the next 400-meter hurdler with a 1:01.95 time this year, just five seconds slower than her state-leading 400-meter dash time.
Boys: Iowa City West's Aidan Jacobsen is the leader with a 52.52-second time this season, but a host of runners with 53-second times like Mount Ayr's Ryce Reynolds and other will contend.
4x100-meter relay
Girls: It's an all-Des Moines-area race here, with Waukee Northwest (48.05 seconds), Johnston (48.81) and Waukee (49.01) leading the field.
Boys: Ankeny's speedsters are the favorites here, with a state-leading 41.76-second time, followed closely by Cedar Falls' 41.98-second time.
4x200-meter relay
Girls: Waukee Northwest leads this sprint relay once again with a 1:40.49 time, three seconds faster than the second-fastest team of Sioux City East.
Boys: Ankeny not only holds the best time in the state, but also the all-time Iowa record with a 1:26.12 time that the Hawks set at the blue oval just weeks before the Drake Relays.
4x400-meter relay
Girls: Pleasant Valley is the team to beat here, the only school running under four minutes in the relay with a 3:58.49 time.
Boys: Cedar Falls nearly has a second lead on the next closest opponent with a 3:22.58 time this year, followed by Johnston (3:23.38) and a host of others with similar times.
4x800-meter relay
Girls: Pleasant Valley is the leader here once again by a thin margin (9:20.17), but Johnston (9:21.17) and Valley (9:22.54) will contend.
Boys: Des Moines-area schools lead the way here again, with Urbandale (7:54.78) and Dowling Catholic (7:56.91) at the forefront of contention.
4x100/110-meter shuttle hurdle relay
Girls: Five schools are separated by mere tenths of a second, with Waukee (1:04.22) leading the way over Dowling Catholic (1:04.51), Indianola (1:04.61), Waukee Northwest (1:04.68) and Cedar Falls (1:04.83) right behind.
Boys: This will also be a tight race, with seven schools all running in the 59-second threshold. Western Dubuque is currently the state leader, holding a 59.23 second time, but Treynor, Waukee Northwest, Cedar Falls, Valley, Iowa City West and Cedar Rapids Kennedy are all within seven-tenths of a second or less.
800/1600-sprint medley
Girls: Johnston (1:46.68) and Waukee (1:46.8) are the front-runners and should compete for a photo finish for the Drake Relays title here.
Boys: State leader Ankeny has a seven-second advantage over the next-fastest team, holding a 3:25.60 time on the year, followed by Iowa City West with a 3:32.62.
High jump
Girls: Ankeny's Reagan Hanfelt (5-foot 7-inch jump) is the leader coming in, with ADM's London Warmuth, Ankeny Centennial's Anna Woods and Hartwick-Ladora-Victor's Ema Roberts right behind with a 5-foot, 6-inch jump this season.
Boys: Camanche's Tyson Seeser is the leader of the crew, jumping 6 feet, 10 inches on the year, two inches higher than his fellow competitors.
Long jump
Girls: Clear Lake's Reese Brownlee tops the leaderboard once again, with a 19-foot, 0.25-inch jump this season.
Boys: Southeast Polk's Abu Sama was the far and away leader last year, but Cedar Rapids Prarie's T.Y Pour (23 feet, one inch) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Jacob Smetzer (23 feet, half an inch) will look to fill the void.
Discus
Girls: Pleasant Valley's Reese Goodlet (145 feet, nine inches) is the state leader, with Hampton-Dumont-CAL's Charlee Morton (144 feet, two inches) right behind her.
Boys: Solon senior Ben Kampman (188 feet, four and a half inches) is the favorite, with Akron-Westfield's Ian Blowe (187 feet, two inches) closely behind.
Shot put
Girls: While Morton may not be the discus favorite, she certainly is the favorite in the shot put with a 43-foot, 6-inch throw this season, the only thrower to crack 43 feet this season on the girls side.
Boys: Pella Christian's Trevor Veenstra has cracked the 60-foot mark this season, two feet further than his next-closest opponent.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: High school events at the Drake Relays 2024
